Most Americans are familiar with the term hacking as it relates to unauthorized access to information. What virtually all Americans don’t know is the depth and scope to which this is occurring. Like an ice berg tip that’s barely visible above the surface, what you don’t see below the surface is utterly massive. So too is the world of hacking. Whether for financial gain, military secrets, intellectual property, smear campaigns, or fake news, the list goes on and on. Fellow Americans, our country is being raided by foreign actors at an unprecedented pace and it only looks to get worse. Mandiant, now owned by FireEye has conceded “There is no way to keep hackers out. Eventually they will gain access.” The current strategy is to create misdirection through honeypots and other techniques in order to watch and assess the level of the raider’s hacking ability. This provides a finger print that helps to determine the origin of the hacker, strategy used, and possible resolution to slowing them down.
Several countries from around the world have recently confirmed the recent ransomware dubbed “Wanna Cry” was in fact a North Korean extortion worm used for financial gain and disruption. Wanna Cry was responsible for paralyzing Great Britain’s Health care system by taking down many of the country’s hospitals. Hundreds of businesses in Great Britain and the U.S. were also affected. Who knows what the ultimate cost in treasure and lives will be.
Recently, Wired reported in September of 2017 “Hackers Gain Direct Access to the US Power Grid Controls.” Not good news for Europe & the US. This means these raiders could sabotage our power grid sending us into darkness disrupting our lives and primary defense systems were communications are vital. If this is true, the fallout from an attack like this would be catastrophic without firing a shot. Don’t kid yourself, we are in a Cyber war whether you believe it or not.